When I was new to African Violets, the first time I saw someone remove THAT many leaves, I was horrified. But now that I’m more experienced (and have learned a lot from Ken Muzalewski), there’s nothing I love more than pruning my violets down to just the first two or three rows of leaves.😄 It’s like giving them a facelift and it promotes growth so well. I’ve heard that right after a show, growers will take their PRIZE WINNING violets home and go straight to work removing every bloom stem and almost all the leaves except for 6 or 7 center leaves!
I just bought my first violet and watched somebody else talking about how delicate these plants are. I was a nervous wreck, just driving it home. Now I see this guy totally man-handling them! 😮
Thank you so much for this video! You’ve explained this very well!… I’m neurodivergent, so I get lost easy when a lot of information is burned through quickly, but watching how you do this, gives me a lot more confidence with this. 😊
I’m surprised at the pot size, I can’t believe you can get such a big AV in a tiny pot!? Incredible! I’m going to trial it in pots a little bigger & if they’re happy, I’ll continue. It’ll save a lot more room.
I like you cutting the two plants apart rather than pulling them apart. I’ve had good luck with that method. But wow, I just can’t rake that many leaves off! I’m a softie
I enjoy your videos very much! Thank you! I have bought those water bottles in the dollar store, they come in sets of 2. Exactly like the one you have, others painted red or yellow with words catchup or mustard. The best ones are like the one you have!
I was very impressed with your video. I’ve been having African violets for a very long time and I’ve never seen a tutorial as good as yours. I would love to know your mixture for the dirt
Wal-Mart sells 24 oz bottles in the kitchen gadget section for 98 cents. and thank you for this video. someone told me to remove the suckers but I was scared to start pulling leaves of of my favorite plant.
I have trouble getting the plant to set back in the pot without the leaves or stem buried. I also thought that you weren't supposed to pack in the soil.
Oh what a beautiful AV. I love the big leaves and the white edges. Where did you find them? Or maybe what are their official names so I can try to find them. I had a lot of AV a few years ago and life happened and my husband had to take over their care, needless to say I now have 3 AV. But now I have a new house, sunroom and newly retired so it’s time to get some nice new AV’s. Thanks for a great video.
These varieties are all Hunter's hybrids. He sells them on ebay auctions each week. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=166727075951&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=piercedm
Thank you for information Can you please film a close up of the sucker? Still now sure how ri identify one, Also can you create another plant from a sucker since you described them as baby plants?
The definite identifier of a sucker is that it has its own, separate little crown, forming a secondary whorl of leaves. An immature or "water leaf" is just an individual small leaf, growing in the same direction as the rest of the plant. Whereas a sucker will (eventually) have leaves growing against the direction of the main crown. You'll be able to find great photos of suckered violets and detail photos of differently aged suckers with a simple internet image search for "saintpaulia sucker". "AVSA sucker" will give you four very clear images to start with, including a tiny but easily identifiable sucker with a few minute leaves forming a teeny tiny crown. If you can get a sucker to root, it will give you a clone baby of the mother plant. The proicess is the same as rooting the top of a plant to restart it after root loss or to remedy an extensive neck. In fact, aside from flower stalk propagation, rooting suckers is the only way chimera varieties can be reproduced true to type, hence their high cost and rarity. Chimeras have different genes on the outer and inner germ layer of the plant, which makes the pinwheel flower patterns and dramatic leaf patterns possible. On leaf cuttings, the babies originate from the outer layer, so can only ever inherit the outer layer traits of its parent plant. On a leaf stalk cutting and a sucker, both layers of the parent are preserved and propagated to the baby.
Don't know what I am doing wrong, but I keep killing my African violets. Water them w filter water have them Indirect light. What am I doing wrong help 😢
Im Sorry, Its very hard to figure out why that is happening, In general, give them good soil, a good liquid fertilizer and dont overwater them. Light is important too, maybe not enough,, all of mine are on shelves with grow lights.
Great video thank you. Do you sell African violet plants, minis and/or babies? If not can you direct me with where to purchase that are high quality and interesting please. I live in New Jersey.
@@rehab5355 Removing oldest leaf whorls promotes growth of new leaves, and therefore, new blooms. I don't know about his situation, but most hobbyists have limited space for their collections, and limiting the size of the plants means more room for air to circulate between the plants (to fight mildew) and more room for more varieties. Hybridizers have even more reason to keep plants trimmed to limit the size, because they have to raise so many seedlings to maturity to see if they inherited desired or interesting bloom trait combinations. Finally, keeping a plant meticulously trimmed is needed to raise an AV to showing condition with well arranged, symmetrical rosettes. This also includes plucking out all emerging bloom stalks until a set time, to ensure a full bloom for the show.
@@rehab5355 special varieties aren't cheap and you can't "just go get another one" whenever. Rooting suckers is very easy and a great way to clone a plant you like to gift it to a friend or sell to a fellow hobbyist. Or you can keep it as insurance or for hybridization or just have one more of a variety you really, really like.
Really enjoyed your video. I have many plants but just started learning about AV. Even though they are beautiful they seem to be high maintenance. My AV bottom leaves are turning in. Do you have any idea what the problem might be?
Do the pots have to be so tiny? I just got one, it's probably in a 4 inch pot, looks pretty. Now I'm wondering if I have to butcher it down & do a tiny pot?
Suckers are never in the middle, the crown in the middle is the primary i.e. "true" crown. A sucker is a secondary crown that grows from the neck of the plant, between the leaves of the primary crown.
LOLOLOL! Dear God... all I ever hear about is how fragile African Violets are!!! This video is like watching a leg-amputation back in the Civil War!! I wish he'd show us how successful this radical surgery ended up being! And did he re-root all the leaves and babies??
Total beginner here moving on to watch a different video that will explain why this guy just tore this plant apart. Why? He didn't explain. Said there were suckerer but didn't really show what they looked like so I could recognize it or why he's removing them. Why did he tear all the leaves off? Isn't that part of why we grow plants to get them big? Why did you tear all the flowers off? Yeah playing in the background while I type and still ripping leaves off. Why? Off to find a video that will teach me something. Sorry. This was really unhelpful for me. 😢
At 3:26 he tells you exactly what a sucker is and it shows you how to get to them. That’s why he’s “tearing” the leaves off, he’s actually just removing the leaves to get to the suckers.
It started out to be a beautiful aesthetic looking plant. You should have left it alone. I thought you'd end up tearing off every single leaf and then trashing the whole thing. I'm not following your advice!
AVs only bloom between the second and third leaf whorls. If the plant is full of leaves, it will grow new whorls very slowly, and thus rarely rebloom. Trimming off older whorls will keep the plant continuously growing new leaves, and therefore, continuously getting new opportunities to bloom. If you enjoy your AVs for their foliage and prefer full rosettes with plenty of leaves, by all means, only trim out leaves which have grown pale or floppy with old age. It will be less work.
I have grown African violets for years and never knew I should do this.
Plz do not do this. Not this many and all the blooms at once. U can also prop blooms
Me too😊
When I was new to African Violets, the first time I saw someone remove THAT many leaves, I was horrified. But now that I’m more experienced (and have learned a lot from Ken Muzalewski), there’s nothing I love more than pruning my violets down to just the first two or three rows of leaves.😄 It’s like giving them a facelift and it promotes growth so well.
I’ve heard that right after a show, growers will take their PRIZE WINNING violets home and go straight to work removing every bloom stem and almost all the leaves except for 6 or 7 center leaves!
where do you purchase the rtchase the violets?😊
This video gave me the confidence to clean up two of my overgrown African violets. Many thanks!
I hope you’ll show us an update of how nicely these violets have filled out after their pruning.
I just bought my first violet and watched somebody else talking about how delicate these plants are. I was a nervous wreck, just driving it home. Now I see this guy totally man-handling them! 😮
😂😅
Thank you so much for this video! You’ve explained this very well!… I’m neurodivergent, so I get lost easy when a lot of information is burned through quickly, but watching how you do this, gives me a lot more confidence with this. 😊
Genius. Love the simplicity of your demo. THANK YOU
this was very helpful! thanks so much.
You are so welcome!
I’m surprised at the pot size, I can’t believe you can get such a big AV in a tiny pot!? Incredible! I’m going to trial it in pots a little bigger & if they’re happy, I’ll continue. It’ll save a lot more room.
So glad I found your site as best one I have seen. Fairly new at this and I do best with visuals. Thank you 😊
I like you cutting the two plants apart rather than pulling them apart. I’ve had good luck with that method. But wow, I just can’t rake that many leaves off! I’m a softie
Thank you! Didnt know they can get suckers and good to know I'm caring for them correctly
Fantastic video! Great info ! Thank you for sharing your process!
You are very welcome, going to make some more african violet videos this winter when the outside plants quit growing
I enjoy your videos very much! Thank you!
I have bought those water bottles in the dollar store, they come in sets of 2. Exactly like the one you have, others painted red or yellow with words catchup or mustard. The best ones are like the one you have!
Mu $ tree bottles leak no matter how tight
Debbie, he knows what he's doing 😂
Great video!! Thank you for sharing! I've always been nervous to repot my violets. Going to repot today!
Man, i thought you were making a salad!
🤣
What type of soil do you repot with. I have several that have a lot of suckers on them. Please help me. I have learned a lot from this video.
I was very impressed with your video. I’ve been having African violets for a very long time and I’ve never seen a tutorial as good as yours. I would love to know your mixture for the dirt
Wal-Mart sells 24 oz bottles in the kitchen gadget section for 98 cents. and thank you for this video. someone told me to remove the suckers but I was scared to start pulling leaves of of my favorite plant.
They actually pups u separate when they r big enough to survive alone
I have trouble getting the plant to set back in the pot without the leaves or stem buried. I also thought that you weren't supposed to pack in the soil.
So a sucker is a baby plant growing inside the big plant?
A friend of mine told me to do this and she swears by it. I just did it and my plants actually seem better after just 1 day.
Oh what a beautiful AV. I love the big leaves and the white edges. Where did you find them? Or maybe what are their official names so I can try to find them. I had a lot of AV a few years ago and life happened and my husband had to take over their care, needless to say I now have 3 AV. But now I have a new house, sunroom and newly retired so it’s time to get some nice new AV’s. Thanks for a great video.
These varieties are all Hunter's hybrids. He sells them on ebay auctions each week. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=166727075951&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=piercedm
Yu Rock. Thank yu for making it PLAIN. LOL 😂
Phenomenal video and info. Thanks!
What are you fertilizing your violets with?
I’m wondering if the plant is putting out suckers, if the pot is too small. I know they like to be compact but is it forcing the plant to sucker?
Great video. Thanks for the information :)
You are welcome
Thank you for information
Can you please film a close up of the sucker?
Still now sure how ri identify one,
Also can you create another plant from a sucker since you described them as baby plants?
The definite identifier of a sucker is that it has its own, separate little crown, forming a secondary whorl of leaves. An immature or "water leaf" is just an individual small leaf, growing in the same direction as the rest of the plant. Whereas a sucker will (eventually) have leaves growing against the direction of the main crown. You'll be able to find great photos of suckered violets and detail photos of differently aged suckers with a simple internet image search for "saintpaulia sucker". "AVSA sucker" will give you four very clear images to start with, including a tiny but easily identifiable sucker with a few minute leaves forming a teeny tiny crown.
If you can get a sucker to root, it will give you a clone baby of the mother plant. The proicess is the same as rooting the top of a plant to restart it after root loss or to remedy an extensive neck.
In fact, aside from flower stalk propagation, rooting suckers is the only way chimera varieties can be reproduced true to type, hence their high cost and rarity. Chimeras have different genes on the outer and inner germ layer of the plant, which makes the pinwheel flower patterns and dramatic leaf patterns possible. On leaf cuttings, the babies originate from the outer layer, so can only ever inherit the outer layer traits of its parent plant. On a leaf stalk cutting and a sucker, both layers of the parent are preserved and propagated to the baby.
Don't know what I am doing wrong, but I keep killing my African violets. Water them w filter water have them Indirect light. What am I doing wrong help 😢
Im Sorry, Its very hard to figure out why that is happening, In general, give them good soil, a good liquid fertilizer and dont overwater them. Light is important too, maybe not enough,, all of mine are on shelves with grow lights.
Great video thank you. Do you sell African violet plants, minis and/or babies? If not can you direct me with where to purchase that are high quality and interesting please. I live in New Jersey.
Mine are in special self watering pots for AV. I cannot imagine murdering it that way.
Right does he sell them because there's a reason he is doing this stuff
Me either...not sure the purpose of keeping them soooo tiny...such a big man..just seems odd...maybe there is a reason...one day ill...know, maybe...
@@rehab5355 Removing oldest leaf whorls promotes growth of new leaves, and therefore, new blooms. I don't know about his situation, but most hobbyists have limited space for their collections, and limiting the size of the plants means more room for air to circulate between the plants (to fight mildew) and more room for more varieties. Hybridizers have even more reason to keep plants trimmed to limit the size, because they have to raise so many seedlings to maturity to see if they inherited desired or interesting bloom trait combinations.
Finally, keeping a plant meticulously trimmed is needed to raise an AV to showing condition with well arranged, symmetrical rosettes. This also includes plucking out all emerging bloom stalks until a set time, to ensure a full bloom for the show.
can you plant the suckers? will they produce flowers too?
I think he said he would be planting the suckers.
You can definitely plant the suckers, they will flower once strong enough.
@@peccantisschissch...they are cheap...just go get another one.
@@rehab5355 special varieties aren't cheap and you can't "just go get another one" whenever. Rooting suckers is very easy and a great way to clone a plant you like to gift it to a friend or sell to a fellow hobbyist. Or you can keep it as insurance or for hybridization or just have one more of a variety you really, really like.
Don’t forget to add ranch for the best taste 😂
Buna ziua cu ce le fertilizati
Is this the size pot you have good luck with ? Your soil mix is 50\50 African Violet mix and Perlite ?
Really enjoyed your video. I have many plants but just started learning about AV. Even though they are beautiful they seem to be high maintenance. My AV bottom leaves are turning in. Do you have any idea what the problem might be?
can you cut or clip them or is it better to pinch them this way?
So difficult to get any plant into India. Wish I could get your "baggy". Taking out all those leaves breaks my heart.
Whats your AV soil recipe?
Won't pulling off all the big leaves cteate a long neck?
I think the same, did he bury the stem?
Yes, but the stem is buried and will soon sprout roots.
Do the pots have to be so tiny? I just got one, it's probably in a 4 inch pot, looks pretty. Now I'm wondering if I have to butcher it down & do a tiny pot?
Best pot size depends a bit on how you water your AVs but in general, pots about 1/2 of the plant's width are recommended.
Thanks😊
If i dont care that it distorts the look of the plant, is their any other reasons i should trim them off?
No plz dont
Thank You ♥️🕊
Nice
What type of soil do you use?
how can i tell the difference between the true crown and suckers that are in the middle
Suckers are never in the middle, the crown in the middle is the primary i.e. "true" crown. A sucker is a secondary crown that grows from the neck of the plant, between the leaves of the primary crown.
What insecticides do you use in your soil ?
I think it’s time for a new haircut for myself 😅
Ness'Orange Pekoe favorilerimden. En büyük hatamı gördüm. Saksılarım çok büyük. Küçülteceğim onları..
what fertilizers do you use?
and what soil mix?
I use 7 drops of schultz African violet fertilizer in 32 oz. Of water.
I think I will go see if the dollar store has a bottle like that. He does seem harsh on the plants maybe he will show what they look likevin a month.
LOLOLOL! Dear God... all I ever hear about is how fragile African Violets are!!! This video is like watching a leg-amputation back in the Civil War!! I wish he'd show us how successful this radical surgery ended up being! And did he re-root all the leaves and babies??
TYFS
It was awesome before you did anything.
You mentioned that you would put some of those removed leaves into a ziplock bag.... why?
they will grow roots if you spray the bag before putting them in. leave it ope a bit at the top for air.
❤
Show me what you mean by suckers?
Seeing how big it was, it made me cringe seeing you butcher it up to smaller plants 😢
Poor plant
Total beginner here moving on to watch a different video that will explain why this guy just tore this plant apart. Why? He didn't explain. Said there were suckerer but didn't really show what they looked like so I could recognize it or why he's removing them. Why did he tear all the leaves off? Isn't that part of why we grow plants to get them big? Why did you tear all the flowers off? Yeah playing in the background while I type and still ripping leaves off. Why? Off to find a video that will teach me something. Sorry. This was really unhelpful for me. 😢
Just ask questions , suckers are little baby plants.
Ok...not just me...maybe he just likes dismantling...stuff
Ok ...he says why he's doin this at the very end...ha ha...
Should have given the
What when why at the beginning...
At 3:26 he tells you exactly what a sucker is and it shows you how to get to them. That’s why he’s “tearing” the leaves off, he’s actually just removing the leaves to get to the suckers.
All of those leaves will individually become new plants if he propagates them.
It started out to be a beautiful aesthetic looking plant. You should have left it alone. I thought you'd end up tearing off every single leaf and then trashing the whole thing. I'm not following your advice!
AVs only bloom between the second and third leaf whorls. If the plant is full of leaves, it will grow new whorls very slowly, and thus rarely rebloom. Trimming off older whorls will keep the plant continuously growing new leaves, and therefore, continuously getting new opportunities to bloom.
If you enjoy your AVs for their foliage and prefer full rosettes with plenty of leaves, by all means, only trim out leaves which have grown pale or floppy with old age. It will be less work.
Trying to act like u did this on purpose 😂😂😂